Canti

The miraculous thing about his poetry is that he simply takes the weight out of language, to the point

that it resembles moonlight.Italo Calvino

He was endowed in a peculiar degree with most of the faculties which belong

to the highest excellence.William Gladstone

The words of La vita solitaria by Leopardi seemed to come out of the trunk of a tree

hopeless, uncrushable sentiments.Bob Dylan

The great poet of desolation.Paul Bailey

Perhaps the finest Italian poet after Dante.Tim Parks

oneworld classics

Canti

Giacomo Leopardi

Translated by

J.G. Nichols

ONEWORLDCLASSICS

oneworld classics ltdLondon House243-253 Lower Mortlake RoadRichmondSurrey TW9 2LLUnited Kingdomwww.oneworldclassics.com

First published in Italian in 1831First published by Carcanet Press Limited in 1994This revised edition first published by Oneworld Classics Limited in 2008English translation J.G. Nichols, 1994, 2008Notes and background material J.G. Nichols, 2008

Printed and bound in Great Britain by TJ International, Padstow, Cornwall

isbn-13: 978-1-84749-016-2

All the pictures in this volume are reprinted with permission or presumed to be in the public domain. Every effort has been made to ascertain and acknowledge their copyright status, but should there have been any unwitting oversight on our part, we would be happy to rectify the error in subsequent printings.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the publisher. This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not be resold, lent, hired out or otherwise circulated without the express prior consent of the publisher.

Contents

Canti 1Notes and Additional Excerpts from 262Leopardis Works

Extra Material 301Leopardis Life 303Leopardis Works 326Translators Note 327Select Bibliography 337

Canti

IAllItalia

O patria mia, vedo le mura e gli archi 1e le colonne e i simulacri e lermetorri degli avi nostri,ma la gloria non vedo non vedo il lauro e il ferro onderan carchii nostri padri antichi. Or fatta inerme,nuda la fronte e nudo il petto mostri.Oim quante ferite,che lividor, che sangue! Oh qual ti veggio,formosissima donna! Io chiedo al cielo 10e al mondo: dite, dite,chi la ridusse a tale? E questo peggio:che di catene ha carche ambe le braccia,s che sparte le chiome e senza velosiede in terra negletta e sconsolata,nascondendo la facciatra le ginocchia, e piange.Piangi, ch ben hai donde, Italia mia,le genti a vincer natae nella fausta sorte e nella ria. 20

Se fosser gli occhi tuoi due fonti vive,mai non potrebbe il piantoadeguarsi al tuo danno ed allo scorno ch fosti donna, or sei povera ancella.Chi di te parla o scriveche, rimembrando il tuo passato vanto,non dica: Gi fu grande, or non quella?Perch, perch? Dov la forza antica,dove larmi e il valore e la costanza?Chi ti discinse il brando? 30Chi ti trad? qual arte o qual faticao qual tanta possanzavalse a spogliarti il manto e lauree bende?Come cadesti o quando

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ITo Italy

My native land! I see the walls, the arches, 1The columns, and the statues, and the loneAncestral towers but where,I ask, is all the glory?The heavy weight of laurel and of ironOur ancestors once bore? For undefendedYou show your forehead and your breast now, bare.What mass of wounds alas!What bruises and what blood! What disarray,My lovely lady! Till I beg the Heavens 10And earth to tell me this:Who brought her to this pass? Who dared to layUpon her arms these fetters and their weight?That with disordered tresses and unveiledShe sits on earth neglected, comfortless,Bending to hide her faceBetween her knees, and weep.Weep, for you have good reason, Italy,Born to outdo all peoplesIn your good fortune and your misery. 20

Now even were your eyes two living springs,The tears they shed would neverBe equal to your harm and your disdain:Lady, a wretched slave is what you are.Who speaks or writes of you,And brings your ancient splendour into mind,And does not say: Your greatness is no more?Why, why is this? Where is the ancient vigour,The arms, the valour, and the constancy?Who was it had your sword? 30Or who betrayed? What cunning or what labourOr greater potencyRemoved your royal cloak and golden round?How did you fall or when

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da tanta altezza in cos basso loco?Nessun pugna per te? Non ti difendenessun de tuoi? Larmi, qua larmi: io solocombatter, procomber sol io.Dammi, o ciel, che sia focoaglitalici petti il sangue mio. 40

Dove sono i tuoi figli? Odo suon darmie di carri e di voci e di timballi:in estranie contradepugnano i tuoi figliuoli.Attendi, Italia, attendi. Io veggio, o parmi,un fluttuar di fanti e di cavalli,e fumo e polve, e luccicar di spadecome tra nebbia lampi.N ti conforti? E i tremebondi lumipiegar non soffri al dubitoso evento? 50A che pugna in quei campilitala gioventude? O numi, o numi:pugnan per altra terra itali acciari.Oh misero colui che in guerra spento,non per li patrii lidi e per la piaconsorte e i figli cari,ma da nemici altruiper altra gente, e non pu dir morendo:Alma terra natia,la vita che mi desti ecco ti rendo. 60

Oh venturose e care e benedettelantiche et, che a morteper la patria correan le genti a squadre!E voi sempre onorate e gloriose,o tessaliche strette,dove la Persia e il fato assai men fortefu di pochalme franche e generose!Io credo che le piante e i sassi e londae le montagne vostre al passeggerecon indistinta voce 70

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From such a height to such a lowly place?Does no one fight for you? Not one defendYou of your own? To arms, to arms: Ill fightAlone, and fall face forward, I alone.And may my blood, O Heaven,Become a fire to inspire Italian men. 40

Where are your children? Theres the clash of arms,Of wagons and of voices and of drums,Coming from foreign parts*Where your sons are in the field.Listen, my native land! There is, it seems,Surge upon surge of infantry and horses,Smoke, dust, and flashing swords by fits and startsLike lightning through a cloud.Is this no comfort? Do you fear to seeWith trembling eyes how doubtful the event? 50For in such fields why shouldItalian manhood fight? O powers that be:Italians for another nation fight!And wretched is that man who dies in battle,Not for his native coasts and for his kind,Kind wife and children, butFor others at the handOf enemies of theirs, and cannot say,Dying: My native land,I give you back the life you gave to me. 60

Oh fortunate and very dear and blessdThose days when whole battalionsRushed to destruction for their native land;And you forever praised and glorious,Pass of Thermopylae,Where Persia and strong fate proved all too weakSince some few souls were bold and generous!Truly your waters and your rocks and treesAnd your great mountains tell the travellerWith one mysterious voice 70

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narrin siccome tutta quella spondacoprr le invitte schierede corpi challa Grecia eran devoti.Allor, vile e feroce,Serse per lEllesponto si fuggia,fatto ludibrio agli ultimi nepoti;e sul colle dAntela, ove morendosi sottrasse da morte il santo stuolo,Simonide salia,guardando letra e la marina e il suolo. 80

E di lacrime sparso ambe le guance,e il petto ansante e vacillante il piede,toglieasi in man la lira:beatissimi voi,choffriste il petto alle nemiche lanceper amor di costei chal sol vi diede voi che la Grecia cole e il mondo ammira.Nellarmi e ne perigliqual tanto amor le giovanette menti,qual nellacerbo fato amor vi trasse? 90Come s lieta, o figli,lora estrema vi parve, onde ridenticorreste al passo lacrimoso e duro?Parea cha danza e non a morte andasseciascun de vostri, o a splendido convito:ma vattendea lo scuroTartaro, e londa morta;n le spose vi foro o i figli accantoquando su laspro litosenza baci moriste e senza pianto. 100

Ma non senza de Persi orrida penaed immortale angoscia.Come lion di tori entro una mandraor salta a quello in tergo e s gli scavacon le zanne la schiena,or questo fianco addenta or quella coscia,

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How the unconquered dead in companiesWholly eclipsed that shore The soldiers who were sacrificed for Greece.Whereat, ferocious coward,*Xerxes fled back across the Hellespont,A laughing-stock to coming centuries;While on Antelas hill, where by their dyingThe sacred band withdrew themselves from death,Simonides went upAnd gazed upon the sky, the sea, the earth. 80

And with his cheeks streaming with floods of tears,With his breast panting, and his foot uncertain,He took in hand his lyre:Oh truly blessd, youWho offered up your breasts to hostile lancesFor love of her who brought you into sunlight,You whom Greeks venerate and worlds admire.What was the powerful loveThat led these youngsters into arms and war,And on and on to their untimely fate? 90Children, how could you laughAnd find such pleasure when, at that last hour,You raced into that mournful cruel pass?You looked like those who go to dance, not die,Each one of you, or to a glorious feast,Whom gloomy TartarusAwaited, the dead wave;Nor were your wives and children by your side,When on that rugged shore,Without a kiss, with no lament, you died. 100

But not without affliction for the PersiansAnd everlasting anguish.Just as a lion in a herd of bullsNow leaps, sinks claws into the back of one,And gores it in the spine,And then sinks fangs into a side or thigh

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tal fra le perse torme infuriavalira de greci petti e la virtute.Ve cavalli supini e cavalieri;vedi intralciare ai vinti 110la fuga i carri e le tende cadute,e correr fra primieripallido e scapigliato esso tiranno;ve come infusi e tintidel barbarico sangue i greci eroi,cagione ai Persi dinfinito affanno,a poco a poco vinti dalle piaghe,lun sopra laltro cade. Oh viva, oh viva:beatissimi voimentre nel mondo si favelli o scriva. 120

Prima divelte, in mar precipitando,spente nellimo strideran le stelle,che la memoria e il vostroamor trascorra o scemi.La vostra tomba unara, e qua mostrandoverran le madri ai parvoli le belleorme del vostro sangue. Ecco io mi prostro,o benedetti, al suolo,e bacio questi sassi e queste zolle,che fien lodate e chiare eternamente 130dalluno allaltro polo.Deh fossio pur con voi qui sotto, e mollefosse del sangue mio questalma terra.Ch se il fato diverso, e non consentechio per la Grecia i moribondi lumichiuda prostrato in guerra,cos la verecondafama del vostro vate appo i futuripossa, volendo i numi,tanto durar quanto la vostra duri. 140

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So ran amok among the Persian hordesThe fury and the fire of Grecian hearts.See where the horses and the horsemen lie,See where the vanquished find 110Their flight impeded by smashed tents and carts,See with the first to flyThe pallid tyrant in his disarray See how the Grecian heroes,Drenched and discoloured with barbaric blood,Bringing unending sorrow to the Persians,Little by little vanquished by their wounds,Sink on each other. In our praise of itBe you forever blessdWhile men are in this world to speak and write. 120

Sooner shall stars, uprooted from the sky,Hiss as they plunge extinguished in the deep,Than will our love for youBe lost or lose its force.Your tomb becomes an altar, where the mothersCome with their little ones to show the signsLeft to them by your blood. See how I throwMyself down on the soil,And kiss the very rocks here and the turfWhich will be praised for ever and for ever 130And famed from pole to pole.Oh were I only with you, in an earthMoistened and softened by my blood as yours.And if fate is unwilling to permitThat I should fall and close my dying eyesFor Greece in Grecian wars,Then may at least the lesserRenown your poet has in future years,If but the gods be willing,Endure as long as your renown endures. 140

Written Sept 1818, Recanati.

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IISopra il monumento di Dante

che si preparava a Firenze

Perch le nostre genti 1pace sotto le bianche ali raccolga,non fien da lacci scioltedellantico sopor litale mentisai patrii esempi della prisca etadequesta terra fatal non si rivolga.O Italia, a cor ti stiafar ai passati onor, ch daltrettalioggi vedove son le tue contrade,n v chi donorar ti si convegna. 10Volgiti indietro e guarda, o patria mia,quella schiera infinita dimmortali,e piangi e di te stessa ti disdegna;ch senza sdegno omai la doglia stolta.Volgiti e ti vergogna e ti riscuoti,e ti punga una voltapensier degli avi nostri e de nepoti.

Daria e dingegno e di parlar diversoper lo toscano suol cercando gialospite desioso 20dove giaccia colui per lo cui versoil meonio cantor non pi solo.Ed oh vergogna! udiache non che il cener freddo e lossa nudegiaccian esuli ancoradopo il funereo d sottaltro suolo,ma non sorgea dentro a tue mura un sasso,Firenze, a quello per la cui virtudetutto il mondo tonora.Oh voi pietosi, onde s tristo e basso 30obbrobrio laver nostro paese! Bellopra hai tolta e di chamor ti rende,schiera prode e cortese,qualunque petto amor dItalia accende.

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